A 'Familiar of Zero' and 'Liberal Crime Squad' crossover: 000
by Tamer Who Leapt Through Time
Summary: What if Louise summoned a familiar that had no body, but shared her own? What if that familiar provided her with a new way to see the world? What if that familiar gave her the strength to cast the magic beyond explosions she had so longed for? What if that familiar were a 357 year old mind of a revolutionary that had but one demand in return? - "Change Halkeginia as I see fit."
1. Explosion 0

Disclaimer: Zero no Tsukaima belongs to a dead guy. LCS is a Bay12 videogame. Credits to all, I own only the plot. Furthermore, excuse the political language. It's part of LCS the game; I'm not trying to write that Che Guevara fanfic.

Triple Zero

**Explosion One - Zero Happenings**

* * *

Fate certainly had a sense of humour when it came to Zero. He had had almost seized all of it, that opportunity to bring the fight to the CCS when fate, that ever spiteful slapstick comedian, decided to crack arguably the most Conservative joke in all of Liberalism's history. Such a joke would not be laughed at by him and his fellow compatriots. The joke was not crafted for the likes of him; it was meant to entertain those who lived in the towers of steel penetrating the skies of New York, those Towers of Babel that, despite all their glory and magnificence, were but a shadow concealing the damaged recesses of American society. They were scabs upon necrotic wounds, hiding the most malignant of rots. It was in this sun-forsaken shade that the scarred and stressed heart of America laid. It was almost like something out of a political cartoon. How remarkably predictive were those old etchings from an age before The President's reign! The filthy air, the genetic mutations, the radioactive waste spilling down the gutters of Manhattan, all the signs of this Second Coming were here. Under this shadow of oppression, one could see the Firemen burn contraband literature, those whose ancestors once stared at Lady Liberty be shackled, the cries of dishevelled housewives and victims of the CEOs' exercise of the right of the first night. Zero had failed America. It was only just, he felt that America would choose to fail him.

The guardian that was distance would only preserve him for so long. From his downtown apartment, Zero saw New York City in flames. Those were the infernos of Conservatism roasting alive entire neighbourhoods of crackheads, transients, prostitutes, gangbangers, hippies, college dropouts, teenagers, textile slaves, child workers, liberal judges, doctors, nurses, programmers and all the other hardworking citizens of America. For all the compatriots who were Americans, however, his enemies were Americans as well. These Americans, seething in their unjust hatred, were not the Americans of old, of Boston and Lexington; those Americans of Richmond, who once fanatically protected the flag of their enemies, were now burning it as they burnt Liberalism's safehouses. In the industrial zone, the commercial district and the campus of Barnard, the anguished screeches of immolating compatriots, interspersed with the Death Squad's mechanical hollering of "The South will Rise again!" could be heard.

It seemed like it had come out of a political cartoon; the fact was, it was reality. This reality would've been particularly terrifying to Zero, were it not for the fact that he was not the first Zero.

It had started in 2009. The President had been elected. The environment was the first casualty of his presidency. 50 years later, the first Zero died. The President, still alive and strong from all those biological modifications made possible through very unethical animal testing, was alive, only President in name. In this age, one could see that elections were all but shows and that the only human right that existed for those accused of a crime was death. Then, the second Zero died and was replaced by another. Slavery was reintroduced in all but name and the irradiated Mississippi and Ohio rivers existed as testaments to The President's lifelong lust for power at any cost. After yet another surge of struggles, the third successor Zero had died. By this time, one could expect a massacre of protestors and civil activists to be a mundane daily occurrence that happened as frequently as the twice-daily brushing of teeth (a practice long forgotten and forbidden, having been decided by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutionally Liberal). It was then that he, the fourth Zero, climbed to claim the laurels.

At first it had seemed that Liberalism stood a chance. Under him, there had been resounding victories in favour of the cause. For the first time in 200 years, one could hear the ancient words of Martin Luther King in the ambience of the darkness. One could hear the dream, the dream of a world wherein a person was not judged on the colour of skin, a world with justice for all, a world with justice for great and small, a world where unnecessary swords would be beaten into ploughshares.

That was not to be. 491 years of hard activism was to be in vain.

In the most unoriginal response, the CCS was formed. It is obvious what they did.

"Open the door! Surrender and die!" Zero could hear pounding on his apartment's entrance. The characteristic distortion caused by the voice-changers of the Death Squad was obvious to anyone with a good ear. The procedure that would follow after they had broken down into his apartment would be to find him, bring him to the ground and shoot him in the head. It was brutally simple. He was an enemy of the state. As an enemy of the state, he was an enemy of the people and thus he deserved to die. Granted, he did not fear death, for those who have become part of an Idea could not die, but even then, from the Idea's viewpoint, it would have lost a valuable tool. He was an Elite Liberal. He had orchestrated his fair share of bank heists, assassinations, attacks on the Death Squads, roared the truth to the masses… It was be a senseless loss for him to have to fall to a Death Squad's raid. Having become part of the Idea, the only death he would ever receive would be from a physical cause; the virtue of his cause had provided him with a startling aura of longevity that was probably unrivalled by any other living being save for the older members of the Idea (who now were burning). He had lived for 357 years. The rebellion had started in 2009, with Zeroes coincidentally dying every 50 years three times. He had been the longest lived Zero yet. And despite his longevity, one could mistake him for a 30 year old. The effect of continuous action on the longevity of a Liberal could not be underestimated. If one were to browse through the collection of his Wanted posters, they would be able to see the shift in style of their depictions of him quite obviously.

"We said open the door! Surrender and die!" The Death Squads were called the Death Squads for a reason. They called upon suspects to surrender **and** die. They were not the NYPD of old who would occasionally beat you up for being the wrong skin colour and then send you to a stacked courtroom. They were the most brutal of The President's "law" enforcement agencies. They would capture you, force you down and shoot you in the head. Sighing in resignation, Zero walked to his suitcase and drew the handle with a snap, positioning it in front of him. He had put what had mattered to him inside of it. The Book, a .45 laser pistol, a compact solar panel, a laptop, a manufacturing manual, a hammer and some clothing was packed inside of it. Zero chucked as he thought of how incongruous such a sight of high technology sprawled alongside humble textiles and a book of ages long gone would've been to both the people of the 20th Century (the ones that had damned his) and the people of the 26th (whom had he tried to save).

This was his punishment for the all the people he could not save. This was the punishment for his ignorance before he had seen the light. This was his punishment for not being able to protect the Third Zero. All the sins he had committed, either through action or inaction, were finally about to grasp him from behind from a past he could no longer run from. The hands of the Grim Reaper were coming out of the floor to pull him down to Hell (which he doubted existed).

The Third Zero, his blue-haired gate and key to the world he now lived in.

One, his chief hacker, who had recently shown America the true nature of The President and was now burning because of it.

Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and Seven, his Guardians and who had been named those curious numerical appellations since eternity, their appearances hiding away all signs of their age.

2159, the year he had climbed high enough to see America for what it once was and for what it had now become.

He had lost it all, and now, he would pay.

With a _bam! _The Death Squad had forced itself through the door of his apartment. Their demands of him to open the door were almost redundant.

_Please._ Zero could hear a voice which emanated from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. He remained calm. Hallucination are expected when one is close or knows they are close to their death.

"Show yourself!" Zero did not hear that for that same voice overpowered their orders. _My slave who lives somewhere in this universe!_

Slavery was a daily occurrence in this universe. One would only need to go to the CEO's Castle to see the mingling, tired masses of slaves, some of whom were naked concubines. Then again, death and hallucinations were also as certain.

Zero could hear the jackbooted footsteps of the Death Squad coming nearer to his bedroom. Planning to die by his own hand, he opened the glass door to the balcony, dragging the glass door open. The noise of the Death Squad's unmistakable high-pitched sirens could be head from below, but he could also hear that voice from earlier. _O sacred, beautiful and strong familiar!_

Zero was anything was sacred. He knew enough of the State Religion to complete his infiltrations with "Praise be to Reagan!" but he was not a believer. He had shifted the most Conservative of individuals through the application of logic and rhetoric more often than through the loin. His age, though of little impact on his longevity, sapped away all his strength. Strength, he would require to beat back the Death Squads and he had none of it, making useless his ancient knowledge of martial arts. He tightened the grip on his suitcase and climbed onto the flat ledge of the balcony. A cylinder of steel would've minimised the courage needed to jump, but the choice of suicide was always preferable to the indignity of a Death Squad "culling" as they termed it.

The Death Squad had penetrated his bedroom door, only metres away from his balcony. Characteristically, they harshly droned "Surrender and die". This time, one could very well see that they wish their request would be completed, for their X-15 Military Laser Rifles were aimed at him. Despite all the clatter of this police state, however, Zero could only hear that voice.

_Here I desire and plead from my heart!_

It was the mention of 'heart' that gripped Zero. Hallucinations of death would never mention Heart. The Wisdom of resigning oneself to one's fate, one might hallucinate, but nowhere in the Book did it mention one regaining Heart. Zero had an exponentially growing suspicion that he was not hallucinating!

_Answer to my guidance!_

It was with this imperative that Zero saw the Death Squads readying their fingers on the trigger.

Zero chose. If he were to die, it would not be by the hands of those who had murdered so many of his compatriots, but rather through sweet gravity. Zero was falling down from the balcony, hands holding onto the handle of the suitcase. Just when he was about to meet terra firma (which was for some reason, emitting a green glow, probably that of littered radioactive waste, onto the sides of the building), however, he noticed that his head did not smash into cement and crumple into a mess.

Rather he that he was _one_ with the Idea. It was a sensation hard to capture. He could see nothing, yet he saw everything. He saw Earth, the Third Zero, naked before him in all her Liberal glory, the burning industrial zone, CEOs exercise the right of the first night, hopes, dreams, futures, he saw everything. That everything surely had a link to the Idea.

Alas, it was only for a fleeting moment, as Zero noticed himself becoming more material.

* * *

Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière was well known in the Tristain Academy of Magic. She was well known in that she was infamous for casting only explosions were other were only known for casting, ordinary working spells. She might've been the best at the theory and the study of magic, but it was all too well known that she was a complete and utter failure for every attempt at a practical. Her marks and grades for these practical tests, were on a consistent basis, zero. It was for this that she was known as Louis the Zero. Zero spells, zero magic and some would go further and risk the chance of a misdirected explosion by jeering her on her zero endowments.

Thus, it was quite unexpected when her first attempt at summoning a familiar was bringing on a pandemonium that surpassed the tremors that Guiche's Verdandi had brought on (although by any standard it was small). The summoning of her familiar and the natural phenomena that accompanied it were not congruous with her reputation as one of the worst mages in Tristain, if not Halkeginia. A picturesque day, otherwise sunny and pleasant, was being ruined by many an odd happening; not only was the entire Earth shaking, but furthermore, the Void Tower collapsed. The vicious rains poured as if heralding some great happening, backed by tremendously loud strikes of lightning. It was as if the End Time had come. Fire (or shooting stars, though at the current moment, no-one, not even a bald man by the name of Jean Colbert could witness it for having to weather the storm) rained from the skies. Yet more lightning struck and more rain poured down and for more time the Earth shook. It was as if Divinity itself had damned humanity.

Then as, suddenly as the turmoil struck, it disappeared, and the Void Tower had returned to its undamaged state beforehand.

All would've been normal, if it were not for the fact that Louise was stuck in the same place, pupils dilated, wand still in hand, unable to move, with thick miasma spiralling out of it. Tabitha and Colbert grasped their staves, waiting for whatever was going to happen, while the others looked on, simply awestruck. Even Kirche was having second thoughts of calling Louise a zero.

There was also the added fact that the other students' familiars were crying in an uncontrollable panic that resembled a disturbed zoo, which would've been funny were it not for the all the ill omens.

* * *

Profile #0

Name: Codename is Zero; Birth name long lost.

Profession: Political Activist

Age: 357 years, born 2143.

Gender/Sex: Gender is meaningless to such an immortal. As with sex, male.

Hair and eye colour: Black and brown

Blood Type: O

Earth Juice: 1000

Halkeginian Juice: 0

Heart: Infinite

Intelligence: 1000

Wisdom: 750 due to high casualties under leadership

Health: 1000

Agility: 10

Strength: 1

Charisma:9001

The Fourth Zero. Most successful leader of the Liberal Crime Squad so far. Has been leading a 491 year revolution against The President's rule. Has led since the age of 16 after the death of the Third Zero which he blames on himself. Extremely persuasive. Agents sent to apprehend him have been known to have fallen under the influence of his words, some being driven into suicide by their own cognitive dissonance. Writing possesses a distinct, sharp flair that is rarely mistaken for another person's. Has excellent leadership ability. Ridiculously intelligent. Excellent painter, musician, tailor, beggar and merchant. Extremely stealthy, being able to pass through automated identification systems through snooping and disguise. Possesses an unnatural capability with knives and daggers, known for killing awake people without them noticing. Middle-age appearance belies extreme lack of athleticism and core strength.

Earth crime stats: 3 centuries worth of millions of racketeering charges. Indirectly responsible for hundreds of occurrences of terrorism, treason, murder, bank robberies and 'harmful speech'

Halkeginian crime stats: None yet.

* * *

A/N If you've noticed that Zero bears more than a passing resemblance to Lelouch Lamperouge from _Code Geass _(particularly the Persuasion stat), it is because the two are similar character types. I've based Zero off the founder character of LCS I usually create, with the options bearing more than a passing relation to political intrigue and manifestos. Zero in turn, I designed after scheming magnificent bastards. Don't be surprised, but don't think I'm plagiarizing either.

Read and review. It keeps me going.


	2. Explosion 1

Triple Zero

**Explosion 1 - One Body  
**

To be one with the Idea was an experience that Zero never thought would be likely. The ability to have such knowledge over such a wide frame in space-time could only have been imagined of as part of science fiction. The rude remained however, that he was in a state of what Conservatives would've called Limbo, the crossroad between Hell and Heaven. Zero had never been one for religion and faith; the Rebellion had burnt down their fair share of Reaganian churches. Truth be told however, he held a certain respect for that book known as the Bible. That book, like so many other books, had been banned in the great purges of the 22nd Century. Apparently, it had been too Liberal, a surprising little fact since it had been used in the 21st Century by Conservatism to push their course.

Placing all other thoughts aside, Zero began to place attention on the thought that he was becoming more material. He had no frame of reference to know **where** he was becoming more material. He just knew that he was becoming more material. It was an occurrence hard to properly capture all the nuances. One minute he was part of an Idea, an ethereal consciousness. The next, he noticed was _fading_ back into reality for a lack of a better term. He noticed himself becoming solid, real and physical once again. There was one catch.

This place was not New York.

It was a darkness, emphasis on the article 'a'. It was a pitch black darkness that engulfed everything and this darkness was much more stifling than the one in your wardrobe your mother told you had a boogeyman in it. It was so dark that Zero could swear that this was what unconsciousness would've been like if you noticed it while sleeping. Honestly, the darkness was outright ridiculous. In any case, he was expecting a white void to be surrounding him, not a darkness. In science fiction movies from the 20th to the 26th Century, if the characters found themselves transplanted from their ordinary world into some other dimension, that was what usually happened. They would be standing in a never-ending sea of white, not pitch blackness. Then again, from a scientific perspective, this made sense, for darkness was the natural condition of the universe.

Zero uttered a profanity. Honestly, as much as he held some excitement for being a physical being once against, he was highly irritated at having to feel buried alive. It was then that he noticed that he was again experiencing that shift in corporeality…

Louise the Zero was beyond help. For all the concentration that Colbert was trying to crack through the miasmic barrier, not even a single hole had cracked. By this stage, an opaque, black hemisphere had consumed Louise, with an ever-present cracking of sparks surrounding it. Placing more willpower into his attempt to break through the result of the botched summoning, Colbert found himself flung to the wall of the courtyard. If one were to pay close attention to the body of students, ignoring the pandemonium of their familiars (the students found themselves frozen by a fear that did not allow them to do anything except roll into balls due to fear, hold each other, cry or look on mesmerised), one would be able to hear the ubiquitous comment about Louise that was a typical reaction to whenever she had attempted to cast magic. In this situation however, the comments were not one of ridicule, but rather ones of outright fear.

"Guiche, are we going to die?" Montmorency was yelping in fear in Guiche's arms. To be honest, Guiche did not know the answer. However, he did feel compelled to reassure her.

"I don't know, Montmorency, but I will protect you." If it were not for the black miasmic hemisphere in the middle of the courtyard, mixed with frightened and absolutely terrified and frantic familiars flying all over the place (even Sylphid), it would've been an otherwise normal day. That, and also if weren't for the recent insane weather and romantic assurances of protection.

Kirche was frozen in her steps. She found herself unable to move at the sight of the black hemisphere. Fear and awe combined together to paralyse her into a living statue. This was disturbing given that her elemental affinity was fire; fire was the element of movement and in much of recorded history, paralysis and petrification spells had shown a thoroughly demonstrated tendency to fall against fire mages. Why then, was she still? Why was it then, that the hemisphere of darkness that Louise had called upon seemed to stare and bore right into her soul?

Tabitha held her staff with both hands in dismay. Glancing to her side to see Professor Colbert just manage to stand up from the blow to the wall, she stood focused and stared at the hemisphere. The rest of the student body would've either called her insane or foolhardy, but then again, they were paralysed in fear; they were more likely to die than someone who was prepared to fight.

On the far corner of the courtyard, it would've been possible to see Malicorne attempting to dig his way out of the courtyard with his bare hands. His posterior was jutting out from the hole he had just clawed out. One would've had the impression with his wriggling rear end that he desired to at least die on a full stomach.

Louise had done it. She had gone and messed up the familiar summoning. The Springtime Familiar Summoning ritual could be argued by many to be the most important milestone of any mage's life. It was unspoken common knowledge that even the weakest and most incompetent of mages were able to cast "Summon Servant" with some degree of success. Therefore, when she took into consideration the fact that she was in a thick, black, smothering emptiness that was the result of her casting attempt, Louise could establish that she had failed. She had been called a Zero. She was a nobody. The tree that was Vallière had a withered twig. She was that withered twig. Her classmates seemed vindicated in their jeering.

Louise could not tell whether she was standing or sitting. She sighed. The darkness was stifling. The darkness bored and stared into the very core of existence. She wondered if the darkness was Divinity's last piece of evidence to her that she was not a mage. After all, her spells had all resulted in failure. Perhaps the explosions were divine annoyance at her constant pestering of the Pentagon and this darkness was a manifestation of the final straw on the camel's back. Regardless, she was now trapped in what could only be called a limbo.

Tears were beginning to leak out of her eyes. Fate had a cruel and twisted sense of humour. She was born a noble to the House of Vallière, but her magic could not prove it. She had studied hard through and through, but her application of magic gave negligible results. She was a noble, yet her grace and talent were non-existent. Resignation to marriage or monastery would've therefore been her only paths, however she was physically lacking.

She was a zero. Null. Nothing. Void. Emptiness, failure, incompetence embodied. At this realisation, which for her entire life she had tried to avoid, Louise burst out crying.

"Damn it! Damn it all! I'm nothing. It's all meaningless now." If one could see through the darkness, there would've been the sight of Louise kneeling down, both palms spread on the floor, bringing on a flood of tears which formed isolated blobs of brine in the formless nothingness.

"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. I just discovered this myself."

It was with this, that all of a sudden, an orb light sprung from the darkness. Intrigued by the voice, Louise pushed herself off the floor and readied her up. She tightened her right hand's grip, but noticed that she did not have a wand. As her eyes trailed from hand to shoulder, she realised she was naked. There was no sign of her blouse or cape, and as her eyes skimmed across her chest, she noticed that there was only that always-present flatness.

"Where am I?! Who are you?! What have you done to me?!" The thought of her being teleported into some lecher's cellar crossed her mind. She suppressed the fear and disgust as she waited for answers from the blinding light in the darkness.

"I could just as justifiably ask the same question of you." The monotone and serious voice came from near the light and as Louise paid closer attention, she stepped on a mindboggling realisation: The voice came from a person with the same strawberry blond hair as her, with the same bosom and face as her (albeit noticeably having furrowed eyebrows with a frown). Louise came to the conclusion that she had crossed paths with a shape-shifter.

"Just answer me! Why are you trying to steal my appearance?!" Louise yelled as she flung her arms down. She was utterly confused. She wanted an answer.

_Mentioning appearances, it appears that I have turned female._ Zero felt the lack of the corresponding organs. That had been the case since he (or she) had rematerialized after that earlier 'fading away'. Upon plucking a strand of his (or her) hair, he (or she) noticed that it was not the usual black; it was a dirty, reddish blond.

"The most accurate answer I can give you is that this seems to be the afterlife." Zero plainly explained in French. It was an ancient language, banned since The President had enacted his immigration reforms. Since it was banned, it was worth mastering despite its relative uselessness and Zero had done exactly that. Zero placed aside the strangeness of having someone else speaking it to him conversationally and waited for a response.

Louise experienced a chill up her spine; had the Gods so rejected her that they decided to kill her for trying to summon a familiar? "Dead?"

"Yes, it seems like we are both dead and when the fact that the soul does not have clothing of itself is considered, I think it is a very valid possibility." Louise felt an empty emotion. Her failure as a mage had killed her? The Gods had an evil sense of humour.

"However, if we are both dead, why are we both conscious? Furthermore, why is Limbo, the road to Heaven or Valhalla, the Afterlife, congested with two identical individuals? Why did I find myself able to conjure a star to light this darkness? Conversely, it is just as likely that we have met due to fate, in an empty world that is this void." Louise was somewhat fulfilled by the answer, but it only expanded the hunger of her curiosity.

"Then who are you and what have you done to me?" Louise continued to press on. She had to find answers. If she was not dead, she could return back home.

The likeness approached her. The sight of your spitting image walking naked towards you with a lantern was somewhat disturbing, and Louise felt her legs shake a little.

"I am Zero. I am supposed to be dead and while I was minding my own apparent afterlife, you barged in. The answer provided enough clarification without giving too much away.

Her name was Zero? The possibility that this was a divine prank became all the more real. To Louise, this was most certainly divine mockery. The Heavens had cursed her to be magically barren and now she was doomed to spend an eternity with a doppelganger, named after her nickname no less.

Sniffling visibly, Louise cried and rubbed her eyes, somehow assuming a foetal position in the darkness without a ground, before Zero. "Why me? Why me?" Tears retraced the saline trail that had leaked from her eyes previously. Between ever increasingly frequent throbs, interspersed were those miserable cries of "Why me?" Zero had seen many a gruesome scene in his (or her) life. Dismembered bodies, exploding bodies, mentally retarded mutants mating were pretty much expected in the line of duty. A crying girl, however, stoked his (or her) brotherly (or sisterly) instincts.

"Often, in life, unfair and unjust things happen to us." At this, Louise's sniffling began to subside, as she rubbed her eyes and brought her attention to the curious pull of her doppelganger's voice.

"These injustices and sufferings, we often blame on ourselves." At this, Louise began to nod slightly.

Zero continued. "However, blaming these injustices and sufferings on ourselves produces negligible results. It does not ensure that the injustice has disappeared." Again, Louise nodded. Zero's words had a remarkable amount of applicability to her. She had been ruminating about her lack of magical aptitude for the last few days. Perhaps it was because of her relative lack of confidence in herself that the familiar summoning ritual had failed? After all, to cast a spell, you needed to know that you could cast that spell.

"That brings me to my main point. You wish to return home, but you can't. Therefore, you find yourself crying in the darkness which perpetually engulfs this realm. You wish for the power to return home. Your one desire now is to be able to just go back to living your normal, everyday life, whatever it consists of. You would do that with much gratitude, throwing away all your past regrets and misgivings and never letting them torment you again. You would be happy to just be yourself and not care so much about whatever flaws you had. You would choose to be true to yourself and glad to be what you are, with no further coveting and regret. Am I correct in this assumption?" Three centuries of recruitment had allowed Zero to pierce into and electrify the soul of anyone he spoke to.

Louise was astounded by the accuracy of Zero's observation. Her anxiety and wistful sadness dissipated, beginning to be replaced with a shocked curiosity on her face that pointedly accused Zero of something. Stepping back in a mixture a caution and terror, she queried, with pointing finger, "How do you know so much about me? How come you even look like me?! Answer me!" The chord of unadulterated fear was evident in her voice.

Zero found the situation somewhat amusing. "Remember when you had earlier accused me of a being a shape-shifting appearance thief? Have you not also considered the possibility that I am an _alter ego_, another you? Is it impossible that you have found the aid and service you so desperately called for and arrived at this realm through your search?" Zero had a feeling the voices he had heard before falling of the balcony had some connection to the strawberry blonde before him.

Louise seriously considered the notion. The word _"alter ego"_ cleanly rolled off her mental tongue. It was an Old Romalian word. She had never heard of it before, but somehow the nuances and meanings of it instantly came cleanly through her mind. An _alter ego_ was that other you, the better you, who could do things you never thought to be possible. When considered against the context of the purpose of a familiar, it began to make sense. A familiar was bound to protect and serve its master, with abilities corresponding to the affinities of their master. Therefore, Louise somehow managed to conclude that her familiar was her _alter ego_. Perhaps, Divinity had answered her pleas to no long have 'Zero' as an insulting nickname. Perhaps her familiar was herself?

"Please tell me more." Louise extended out her hand, fear and nervousness disappearing almost within an instant. Aside from the openness, another thing also attracted Zero's attention; she was actually using manners now. It could've been that she finally realised that insulting the _alter ego_ would've been tantamount to insulting herself. Regardless, it seemed everything was going to plan. _'Convince them and recruit them'_.

"There is no need to show such gratitude. You are yourself. To insult me would be to insult you. To thank yourself would be to thank me; I already know your gratitude from within you." Zero beckoned Louise.

"If there is a will, then there is a way." These words coincided with the sudden appearance of a road below them that seemed extremely wide to Louise; if she put herself head to toe alongside the width of it, it would be around 5 of her heights. Glancing back, she noticed that there had materialised incredibly high buildings that, with all their monotonous grey colouring, seemed to scrape the sky. It was an alien sight. There were no towers like that in Halkeginia. Not even Lutetian palaces rivalled that height.

"Come on, let go and have some tea." Turning around, Louise noticed that Zero was in a long, grey coat that looked quite thick, which would have been appropriate for the sudden cold that was now penetrating her. Paying attention to herself, she noticed that she was in her old skirt and blouse, with her cape and pentagram brooch missing. The cold bit into her. She could literally say that she way now jealous of herself. Furthermore, what appeared to be the drawn drawbridge of her family's manor was in front of her, some tens of paces paces away. Louise obliged Zero's request and followed Zero somewhat reluctantly, curiosity still stuck to her heart.

"Excuse me, other me, but where are we?" The variety of road she walked on, incredibly smooth, was never seen by her before. The roads in the capital, while considerably clean and well-maintained, were never this immaculate in their fineness, for they were made out of cobble. The mismatch between road and estate was painstakingly egregious.

"The same place as before, what appears to be the afterlife, though if you had to prescribe what you're seeing now a name, I would call it a crossroads." The same cryptic answer came to Louise from Zero. Was the hidden part of her own self really as cryptic and hidden from common understanding as the Other Her's answers? Riddles were unnecessary to yourself. Why then did she puzzle herself with such esoteric answers?

"We have arrived." Zero, with his/her ever consistently monotone voice informed Louise. Somehow, they had been on the middle of the road a minute ago and now they had arrived at the gate of the manor. If it wasn't the first time something inexplicable happened in his realm, Louise would've broke down. Now she was merely observing. Assuming she was not dead, was her mind really that imaginative? Was she outright insane? What kind of road would make you being at one place at one moment and be at another place at another? She expected that once tea had finished in this mind-boggling realm, she would have questions to ask, not only on the nature of the realm, but why her senses were becoming somewhat clairvoyant. Why did she know that she was going to ask these questions?

And so it was with the announcement of their arrival that Louise followed Zero through the doors of the Vallière estate (or what appeared to be it). What was before her, however, was not foyer of the estate she had been so used to. It was a small room, a parlour. This was not the estate of the Vallières, yet it still felt as if there was home. Perhaps this realm of darkness was getting to her?

"Please sit." Louise obliged and seated herself on a black chaise longue close to the curtains near the centre of the parlour, in front of which there was a low table, as Zero went to another room, presumably to order tea. She scanned the room with her eyes and noticed that the layout was quite unlike anything she had ever seen in her entire life. To her left, she could see a slate of dark glass, framed in a sleek material which she could not discern. Below the slate, she could see that there were other boxes, which shared the same non-descript nature of the slate. To her right, she could see what appeared to be clock, yet there was no pendulum and the Romalian numerals that should've been there were instead replaced by what seemed to be drastically altered Elven numerals. She could see what appeared to be a bulb of glass above hair, with thin wire inside of it. Placed intermittently throughout the walls of the room were patterned perforations, which a button above them.

"Where is this place…? No, rather, what place does this room… share the appearance of?" Even in madness, there was a method and she wanted to know that method.

Zero having prepared the tea, placed it on the table and sat on the opposing chaise longue, placing his (or her) hand on his (or her) chin. What would you call the Big Apple to someone who seemed to be displaced?

"We are in a house in a large city. Looking at your puzzled face, I assumed you have never seen the likes of what you have seen." Zero needed to receive as much information as possible without needlessly giving out too much. Honesty was one of the best policies, but it became better when infused with discretion. Zero sipped some tea and waited for a response.

"True, but I want to know the city in particular." This would probably break the alter-ego act. Louise sipped her tea as if mirroring Zero. She wanted that answer and she would receive it.

Zero sighed. "New York. We are in a representation of New York."

"New York?" As Zero had suspected, the strawberry blonde was not familiar with the term.

"Novum Eboracum, if that is more familiar." Surely, if the scenario he was living in was like some sort of messed up alternate-universe science fiction movie (the likeliness of which was very high considering the existence of an afterlife, which runs contrary to the mutually tied nature of mind and body), then the yet-named strawberry blonde would understand something?

"Novum …Eboracum? I've heard of Eboracum in Albion, but I've never heard of a new Eboracum…" Louise responded curiously, her attention absorbed by Zero's query.

This was the final switch for Zero. The possibility was very now very high that this guy either came from the past (though that would beg the question on why she was wearing such a short skirt and a blouse) or from some alternate universe. After all, nuclear radiation created mutants with superhuman powers (when previously, people thought it would just create retards) and Death Squads patrolled were somehow omniscient when it came to your whereabouts. If those things could be fact (beyond apparent reason), then the chances of meeting _Homo sapiens_ from alternate universes or planets was as equally high.

"It appears that we do not have a commonality in homes." Sipping his (or her) tea, Zero continued, "I think we come from different places" 'World' would've probably have confused the poor interloper. "Please tell me what your name is, and where you come from." Honesty is a good policy. Despite the potential for discretion to enhance it, there was also the possibility for discretion to become omission.

Louise hesitated. What if the doppelganger in front of her sought to know her name in order to steal her identity? It already seemed to know about the undertone of insecurity that filled her life; the scenario of it needing only her name to kill and assume her appearance was all too possible.

"I… can't really tell you."

"Judging from your recent adverse reactions whenever you looked straight at me, I believe that you fear that I am trying to steal your identity?" Zero hit the chord, with Louise flinching. The fluctuations of her emotions from fear to comfort and back to fear again were not exactly the most welcoming series of feelings to experience. Before Louise could respond, Zero added, "If you fear such a possibility, tell me what brought you here. You're welcome to drink the tea while explaining."

* * *

"You come from a land called Tristain, located on the continent of Halkeginia. You attend an academy for magic in Tristain."

"Yes."

"You were trying to summon a familiar and then black miasma spiralled out of your wand and engulfed you. You were hoping that the summoning would prove to your peers that magical ability flowed in your veins."

"Yes." Tears started to begin dripping as Louise sniffled.

"And now, you are stuck here, with no way of returning home due to your failed summoning?"

"Yes as well."

"This confirms my suspicions. Tell me, what do know of green portals that appear out of nowhere and swallow you?" Zero was hoping that it wouldn't lead to what he feared.

* * *

"Green portals are gateways for magical familiars?"

"Yes."

A certain tightness gripped Zero's chest. He himself had no way to return home, nor did this girl. Perhaps it was time to unveil to her the truth of his presence.

"Young lady, I believe I have been summoned to be your familiar. I also believe that my becoming your familiar might get both of us here." At this, Louise's head stopped drooping downwards.

"Will you be my familiar? I want to go back home…"

"Only if you answer my questions: What does it entail, what's your name and where in bloody Hell do you come from?"

* * *

"Collect trinkets. Aid with domestic chores. Be your spy. Sleep on straw. Act as your double when you don't feel like doing schoolwork. You seriously expect me to do that for you, Louise? All the while receiving minimal freedom to myself to do as I see fit?" Honestly, Zero was dismayed. 13 billion years had passed since the Big Bang and Louise's world was still a feudal backwoods. What was it like 500 years ago? Honestly it was like some fairy tale like 'Cinderella' had gone to life and screwed itself over with an unpalatable mix of 'Twilight', 'Harry Potter' and 'MLP: Friendship is Magic'. It was some sick shit from the ancient bowels of long gone image boards.

"Yes, it is a familiar's duty to obey its master." That word was annoying. Zero was not one of the Founding Fathers from seven hundred years ago, but dammit, was that word annoying. A Liberal was no-one's bitch.

"Nothing substantial in return except another day of employment?"

"You are a familiar. I am a mage. It has always been that way. No familiar overtakes or harms its mage." The self-justified tone she was using was annoying! Employment for nearly all the days a week and no free time to carry out his Liberal Agenda! The choice seemed to suck.

"Well, mage, since both our agreement seems to be required to get out of this nowhere-land, I think you're quite seriously going to have understand the implications of my very existence in order to have a partnership!" With that, Zero reached out his (or her arm) and plunged it in Louise's forehead. She would see soon enough, where he (or she) stood.

Louise, quite simply, was not prepared for the sight Zero had for her.

* * *

Blaring blasphemy! Murderous malevolence! If knowing the thoughts of others could kill, Louise would be a million times dead! Louise did not mind the anti-noble rhetoric – it made all the more sense when how Halkeginia's system devalued her worth was taken into account. What was disturbing to her and what caused to her to retreat from the chaise longue to the window in fear, rather, was the _means_ with which Zero had tried to achieve his goals. Pointing a sharply accusing finger at Zero all the while trembling all throughout, Louise condemned Zero.

"You're a monster!" The screech was as loud as the Firemen's sirens. "You're evil!" Louise then retched and created a puddle that strongly smelt of jasmine tea.

Zero snorted. No more than three Conservatives had defected from him with the same phrase. "Evil is the aggressor, not the defender who counterattacks."

"I'll never contract with you! NEVER!" The terror was evident in Louise's voice. "NEVER, NEVER IN BRIMIR'S NAME EVER!"

"Then how are you going to return home? You might be stuck here forever." What a difficult case. There were people who far more difficult to sway, but in all honesty, Louise felt like rank 2.

"I don't care! I'm not going to let you hurt Tristain! I'll stay here for their good!" Poor idealistic little girl. What other nonsense would she spew?

"You should know by now that it's their fault that you're worthless to them. They deserve to pay for that."

"I won't let you hurt them! I won't let you hurt them! Never! Never! Never!" Facepalm.

* * *

Perhaps it was a day. Maybe it was even a year. It certainly felt very long. Condemn. Cry. Eat. Sleep. Condemn. Cry. Eat. Sleep. Enlightening that CEO of the genetic modification company was far less stressful. In the end, however, Zero managed.

With no more tears to shed, Louise simply lay in the corner, sniffling, eyes red from self-pity. It was just a failure to communicate; Zero had only killed much people as she (she was beginning to accept the fact that thechance of turning back into a male was low) had, because there was no other way. Sighing, Zero approached Louise. Poor girl needed a life lesson in determination. She needed a rapport.

And so it was with this acknowledgement that a wand appeared in Zero's hands. She did not _know_ natively what to do. However, the Idea led her to the procedure.

"My name is Zero." Louise stared up. Was she so bad at summoning that _she _was about to be made someone's familiar from a summoning spell?

"…Idea that is Just and that which protects the Weak..." That was analogous to the 'Pentagon' chant. Louis looked onwards to her doppelganger.

"Enlighten this Civilian and let them join the Liberal Cause!" Which this, Louise could feel a warm fuzzy feeling begin to engulf her. The weight that had bored itself into her mind for 16 years began to fade away. She felt as if her heart was swelling. And then, the darkness that was this world was replaced by a light that pierced everything.

* * *

Colbert was more focused than ever before on the hemisphere before him. Whatever had taken away Louise, it had to be stopped. It had to be stopped from taking any more of his students.

So it was with a puzzling lifting of the strain on his very existence that the hemisphere began to brighten. As it brightened, the darkness fell off it like eggshells off a newborn dragon. Light began to radiate out of it, like a newborn star and the light engulfed everything. Tabitha squinted her eyes and turned away at it; Montmorency and Guiche held on each other tighter. Kirche could finally turn away before the shining aura. Malicorne turned around in his hole to see what was happening and turned back again.

When the light had stopped radiating, before them all was what appeared to be an upright Louise, no longer frozen or surrounded in miasma.

"The familiar and master are one." Louise the Zero declared solidly and confidently, holding up her left hand for all to see. No-one visibly reacted in nay way than with stares of confusion and wonder, except for Montmorency, now on the left side of an unconscious Guiche.

"Branding yourself a tattoo and then saying 'The familiar and master are one.' As expected of Louise the Zero!" Louise simply ignored her, smirking to herself. Zero meant much more than zero results now.

Colbert sighed in relief, expecting that Louise would've died. "Well then, Miss Vallière, that summoning was more dramatic than usual, but as it was successful, I think I can safely say, you've succeed in both 'Summon Servant' and 'Contract Servant' in one attempt." Colbert took a quick glance at the runes on her clenched fist and quickly etched them, uttering 'Interesting' to himself.

"Well everyone, class dismissed." Colbert stated simply and he and the other students flew away, some jeering at Louise for the familiar that was one with her. Their thoughts didn't matter now. She was Louise the Zero and this time, she could embrace that name with wholehearted gratitude.

If one were to closely observe her, they would notice that this Louise exuded confidence hitherto found in such an unsuccessful girl like her. Those eyes carried a conviction of steel that was foreign and a very close observer would notice that her assets were somewhat more fully developed. Malicorne de Grandple, stuck in his hole yet with his wand still in his hand knew this very well with his Remote Vision spell. He had also began to know that Louise the Zero had one hell of a piercing death glare that caused him to tremble enough to jump out of his little hole and run away like a little pig while fireballs chased his behind across the whole academy.

She was able to cast spells.

* * *

In a certain part of Gallia, the Mad King felt something, _something_ inexplicable that made him drop his goblet on the marble floor.

* * *

Profile #00

Name: Louise the Zero. Birth name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Liberal Louise (to those who know that she really isn't Louise)

Profession: Magic Academy Student

Age: Mentally 357 years, born 2143 AD. Physically 16-17, born 6223 Halkeginian.

Gender/Sex: It's complicated. As with sex, female.

Hair and eye colour: Strawberry blond.

Blood Type: AB+

Bust:B-

Earth Juice: 1000 (Elite Liberal)

Halkeginian Juice: 50 (Commoner Threat)

Heart: Infinite

Intelligence: 1010

Wisdom: 750 due to high casualties under leadership.

Health: 15

Agility: 15

Strength: 5

Charisma:9001

Arguably the Fifth Zero in the universe. An anomaly case amongst familiar summonings because of the fact that 1) The familiar is invisible and 2) The runes are inscribed on her hand. Displays a previously unseen confidence - uncharacteristic of Louise - that one may see on her face with slightly furrowed brows and a small ever-present smile or smirk. A closer examination by the interested shows them that this Louise has a slightly larger bosom and that her voice carries a very absorbing and sultry quality. Throws fireballs at people who stare at her features, which is strange considering that Louise previously had negligible magic beyond destructive explosions.

Actually isn't Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Rather, it is her body under the influence of the Fourth Zero. Boy is Count Mott going to lose his balls.


End file.
